David E. Sweet

David Emery Sweet (1933–1984) was an American academic and the founding president of Metropolitan State University and later president of Rhode Island College, where he spearheaded the Leadership Rhode Island program and presided over the college's evolution from a normal college into a multipurpose college.

Early life and education David Emery Sweet was born on July 9, 1933, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the son of Adrian John Sweet and Elsie King (née: Jocelyn) Sweet. His family moved to Memphis, Tennessee in his youth, and he graduated from Central High School in 1951. He received his BA degree from Drury College in 1955, graduating magna cum laude; and his MA (1958) and his PhD (1968) from Duke University,

In 1971, he was chosen to become the founding president of Metropolitan State College, an innovative non-traditional institution in St. Paul, Minnesota, which evolved into Metropolitan State University. In 1974, a national panel on higher education in the United States selected Sweet as one of the fifty most effective university and college presidents in the country.

In 1977, Dr. Sweet left Metro State to become president of Rhode Island College, at the time a college for teachers. During its tenure there, he spearheaded the Leadership Rhode Island program and presided over the college's evolution into a multipurpose college granting bachelors as well as master's degrees in many fields.

Legacy David E. Sweet has been memorialized in the following ways: Leadership Rhode Island established the annual David E. Sweet Award. Rhode Island College's David E. Sweet Center for Public Policy is named for him. Rhode Island College's dormitory Sweet Hall was named for him.